Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Missile Turrets

The flotilla that Force Commander Arthur Liam brought to the planet’s surface included 13 ships of three different tonnages and classes. 

The flagship SL195-E-0 was a Siren-class heavy cruiser. This class of heavy cruisers was over 720 meters long and had an active personnel count of 5,000 people, including 4,000 crew members and 1,000 marines. Compared to other types of heavy cruisers, the Siren class mostly relied on its thick armor, Class A+ shield generator, and dense network of missile and artillery assets to break the enemy forces. Its survivability was one of the things that made it a top pick among mid-level naval commanders for flagships. 

The first among the Siren’s impressive armaments were the railguns. This included 2 heavy railgun turrets, 8 medium railgun turrets, and 32 light railgun turrets, all of whom were mounted in various locations along the armored platings of the ship and could adjust the firing angle as needed. 

Like the railguns, 32 multi-purpose missile launchers were situated around the ship to avoid being brought offline at the same time by heavy damage in one part of the ship. They could fire a variety of missiles, including anti-aircraft missiles that were designed to be as fast and agile as possible, anti-ship missiles that focused on armor-piercing capabilities, and anti-ground missiles frequently used to bombard enemy targets from high altitudes. These missile launchers allowed the cruiser to handle a variety of combat situations that it might find itself in. 

Four torpedo tubes were built into the front of the heavy cruiser, capable of firing guided anti-ship torpedoes at hostile targets. Unlike the cheaper missiles often deployed by starfighters or multi-purpose missile launchers, the torpedoes were costly tools with every single aspect of them designed to help them hit their target and nothing else. Built-in sensors could help the torpedoes avoid being distracted by flares or other defensive mechanisms. The thrusters worked with the built-in computers and the sensors to adjust the torpedo’s speed and angle to avoid interception. Even the armored hull could protect the expensive missiles from point-defense turrets for a while. If it wasn’t for cost concerns, some insane Imperial engineers might even have added costly shield generators for these one-time projectiles.

Finally, there were the 64 point-defense turrets. They were completely ineffective against enemy capital ships, not that they needed to be. Their only job was to assist the light rail gun turrets and MMLs and shoot down enemy squadrons, boarding crafts, and torpedoes.

Four other ships in the flotilla were all Calypso-class light cruisers. Out of the four main types of light cruisers used by the Imperium Navy across the galaxy, the 417-meter-long Calypso class was the most versatile one for a simple reason. It was more a combat spacecraft carrier than a battleship. 

Each Calypso-class light cruiser could house, maintain, and deploy one squadron of Mamba-class starbombers, two squadrons of Rattlesnake-class starfighters, and four squadrons of Krait-class interceptors. In addition, Calypsos could deploy their marine units for offensive purposes using their Sabertooth-class combat dropships or Taipan-class assault boarding crafts. In comparison, their armaments were relatively minimal. There was only so much space on the ship, and both the hangar and the additional crew members needed to maintain the various spacecraft took up much of it. 

Finally, there were 8 Arachne-class frigates. These were 210-meter-long vessels that were often deployed in groups to complement larger naval warships with their speed and maneuverability. They were also a relatively cheap option for patrol missions. Their armaments included 2 multi-purpose missile launchers, 2 light railgun turrets, and 8 point defense turrets. 

These 13 ships included over 20,000 crew members and 8,000 marines, and they were just a quarter of Task Force Epsilon, which itself was a piece of the 195th Silver Lance Fleet. There was a reason Commander Liam had such low regard for General Pierre. Task Force Epsilon could wipe out the 329th and ten divisions just like it with ease. 

By the time Force Commander Arthur Liam and Lieutenant Sarah Liam stepped into the central bridge of SL195-E-0, the flotilla had followed the battle plan and arrived at their intended positions. The 13 ships had split into three distinct groups and formed battle lines around 200 miles north, south, and east of the terran base. The frigates made up the groups in the north and south while Commander Liam and the four light cruisers were in the south. The only side without a group of ships was the west, which was where Prosperity was. This was to prevent the enemy troops from fleeing their base once they realized they were attacked. Frigates weren’t designed to take out ground targets, but that didn't mean they couldn’t do it at all. Missiles were still missiles. 

Of course, it would be easier if the naval ships had the support of the armored and mechanical units of the 329th, but Commander Liam had made sure to completely exclude the Imperial Army. 

As the ships held their position, the hangar door on two of the four Calypso-class light cruisers lifted open, and two squadrons of Mamba-class starbombers and four squadrons of Rattlesnake-class starfighters shot out of their carriers. These 72 starfighters and starfighters formed an attack formation and headed for the terran base.

They were the first wave of attack. Their job was to launch precise air strikes on the enemy positions and remove as much resistance as possible to make it easier for the marines to make their landing. 

The Siren and Calypsos had multi-purpose missile launchers capable of firing long-range anti-ground missiles from low orbit, but these missiles were a little too powerful in this situation. A single missile could level a third of Prosperity. Fire one of these missiles at the enemy base, and any chance of taking prisoners could be lost. 

Even as the first wave just left the hangars, around 40 fully loaded Sabertooth-class combat drops were waiting in the hangars of the other two Calypsos. Once permission was given, they could move to deploy 500 Imperial Navy marines to the terran base. They should be more than enough to mop up the remaining foes who survived the air raid. 

Thirty seconds went by as the six squadrons approached the enemy base at maximum speed. Most of the bridge officers in SL195-E-0 were relaxed. They have completed countless missions like this before, and there was no reason for this mission to be any different. Force Commander Liam, on the other hand, kept his cool. He didn't think the enemies could beat his forces, but he also didn't think the enemies were stupid enough to go down without a fight.

If they really did go down so easily, then he would be quite suspicious. 

That was when an officer on the bridge suddenly snapped to Commander Liam. He was a part of the team tasked with linking to the three S-78 satellites in orbit and keeping an eye on the terran base.

By their nature, warships were primarily designed to go against enemy warships and aircraft squadrons. Every piece of equipment in them was crafted with that objective in mind. The heavy cruiser had built-in scanners, but while these scanners were good at locating targets in space, they often struggled when looking at a planet’s surface. In comparison, S-78 satellites were designed to work with ground assets and targets, making them much better at that. 

“Sir! The enemy forces are launching missiles! Around 14 of them. They are heading for our squadrons!”

A less experienced commander might panic at the news, but Commander Liam was unphased. He knew the enemies had anti-air emplacements. While he didn't recognize what the structures really were, missile launchers were one of his first guesses. This was hardly a surprise. 

Plus, he was confident in the skills of his pilots. Like most of their counterparts in other nations, the Imperial Navy focused on quality over quantity, and one didn't become an Imperial Navy fighter or bomber pilot by being incompetent. 

At the same time as the bridge officer saw the missiles coming, so did the pilots. Their radars clearly informed them of the threat they were under. These expert pilots quickly performed the evasive maneuvers they have done thousands of times in the past. A storm of flares shot out from the starfighters and starbombers. At the same time, these aircrafts pulled away from the flares at a sharp angle and reduced engine power. This maneuver was meant to distract the missiles. Since most missiles were locked onto the heat of an aircraft’s engines, they would mistake the flares as their target. 

Moments later, at a speed of around 2 miles per second, 14 missiles fired from the terran missile turrets reached the Imperial starfighter and starbomber squadrons. They completely ignored all the flares and crashed directly into three Rattlesnake-class starfighters. 

“What the hell…” The pilot of one of the three Rattlesnake-class starfighters barely had the chance to let out half a curse before his starfighter was blown into a thousand pieces. The shield generator built into his starfighter did its best, but six missiles were more than enough to break the shield by sheer brute force. 

In this galaxy, the only enemies human beings had were each other. The targets of their missiles were often manmade aircrafts with engines. As a result, most missiles were still IR-guided missiles that could be easily confused by flares. 

Terran missiles didn't rely on heat signatures from engines to track their targets. Often, terran missiles were fired at zerg or protoss fliers that didn't use the same engines as human aircraft, and IR-guided missiles could perform quietly poorly. As a result, these terran missiles ignored the flares and scored direct hits on their targets. 

“Sir! The flares were ineffective. We lost Alpha-4, Alpha-7, and Beta-12.” One of the squadron leaders reported as he did his best to remain calm. 

The communications officer quickly relayed the information to Commander Liam, and the man frowned before making a decision. 

“Continue with your mission and push the attack. Destroy the enemy anti-air missile launchers.” The Force Commander’s voice was quiet as he gave the order. He knew the casualties that would follow, but so what? These pilots were some of the best-compensated groups in the entire sector, and their privilege came at a cost. They were valuable in the sense that he would never throw them away for free. Sacrificing them for victory, on the other hand...

The squadrons followed the orders and continued advancing toward the terran base. As they got closer, the Rattlesnakes started letting loose satellite-guided air-to-surface missiles at the terran missile turrets in retaliation. 

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At the same time, the terran missile turrets continued to return fire. The missile turrets had a firing rate of around 1 shot every ten seconds, and despite the best attempts by the Imperial pilots, they never missed. Much to the horror of the pilots, multiple turrets often locked onto and fired on a single target, overloading the shields and destroying the starfighters with a single volley. 

As time went on, starfighters and missile turrets alike were destroyed. One of them took a lot of talent and resources to replace. The other cost 1,500 minerals and 30 minutes to build. 

It didn't take long before the Rattlesnake-class starfighters exhausted their limited storage of air-to-surface missiles. After all, their primary role was to go against enemy aircrafts. Luckily for them, they have bought enough time for the two squadrons of Mamba-class starbombers to reach their position. 

Bomb after bomb was dropped on the terran position, reducing the remaining missile turrets to pieces of burning wreckage. After the turrets were gone, the Mamba-class bombers turned their attention to the other defensive structures that have already been labeled to them on satellite images during the pre-battle briefings. The bunkers and trenches were the next targets. 

As the terran position was set ablaze, many Imperial pilots cheered in the comms. This fight turned out to be a lot more dangerous than they anticipated, but ultimately, victory was theirs. 

“Anti-air missiles…is that their trump card? Is that what gave them the confidence to challenge us?” In the command bridge, Force Commander Liam frowned. The capability of the missiles was somewhat surprising, but the enemies had to be insane if they thought a few advanced anti-air missiles could beat an entire Imperial Task Force. 

“Sir, should we launch the marine units?” 

“Yes.” The commander gave the officer a single nod. Like what he told his daughter, it was smarter to get the questions from enemy prisoners than to try to guess the answer himself. 

Just as the officer was about to give the order, an officer at the communication station abruptly stood up. “Sir! We have additional missiles incoming! The other two battlegroups have reported being targeted by missiles!”

“What is the source?” Commander Liam froze. The anti-air emplacements at the terran base have all been destroyed, so where did these new missiles come from? 

“A moment please, sir.” The officer pressed a few keys and made an inquiry. After around twenty seconds, he received an answer. “Sir, reports say that the missiles are coming from multiple different directions. It seems like there are more of these missile launchers located around the two battle groups. The shields on the frigates are still holding for now. Captain Park and Captain Olsen are requesting instructions.”

Commander Liam frowned and thought to himself in silence, but Sarah Liam didn't share her father’s patience. 

“This is an ambush! How did our satellites not discover these launchers?” 

“Calm down, Sarah.”

“We need to pull back our ships and regroup!”

“I said calm down!” Commander Liam suddenly snapped. “As a leader, it is your duty to keep a clear head no matter what happens! If you panic, then how can you expect the men under your leadership to maintain order?” 

“I…I’m sorry, father.”

Commander Liam nodded gently before turning back to the bridge officers, all of whom were doing their absolute best to appear as though they didn't hear what just happened. 

The commander knew a likely answer to Sarah’s question about how the satellites failed to detect these hidden missile launchers. The S-78 satellites performed reconnaissance tasks by taking photographs of a large area and then zooming in on specific points of interest. Once they knew where the target was, they could zoom in until they saw all they needed to see. At the same time, the satellites couldn’t locate a single person within a 10,000-mile radius. Not when they didn't even know where to look. 

There were reconnaissance satellites that could take millions of images in an instant and quickly go through them to look for individuals or buildings, but the S-78s had neither the hardware nor the algorithm needed for such a task. 

The missile launchers were much larger than a person, but individually they could be small enough to avoid being spotted. The fact that the enemy commander knew to use this trick to surprise him shows that they knew about the presence of the Imperial satellites in orbit and that they weren’t as unprepared as he had hoped.

So…now what? Send the frigates to destroy the missile turrets? Launch air-to-surface missiles from the cruisers and hit the turrets from a distance away? 

“Sir.” An officer hesitantly raised his voice. “Captain Park and Captain Olsen are still awaiting orders, sir.” He knew the pair of captains were likely cursing inside. Attack or retreat, give the order!

Commander Liam didn't reply. He had done his homework about the commander of this unit. Whoever the person was, they were good at predicting the best response from their foe and using this response against them. General Pierre did what he thought was the best under the circumstances and paid the price for it. 

What would be the most predictable thing for him to do now? The commander thought to himself quietly. “How many missiles are fired in each volley? Across the two battlegroups?”

“Around 30 in total, sir.”

30 missile launchers, likely scattered throughout a wide area. Their MML missiles would be overkill against individual targets. Railguns needed a direct line of sight and plenty of time to locate the launchers. The frigates wouldn't be the best answer, and their shields could fail before they destroy all the launchers. The best and quickest counter…would be to pull back the frigates and deploy the remaining starfighters and starbombers against these missile launchers. As the first wave of destroyed missile launchers proved, they were quite fragile against squadrons of starfighters and starbombers. If the fighters moved quickly enough, they might be able to minimize their losses. 

A small smile climbed onto the veteran commander’s lips. So that was what the enemies wanted. If he was right about this, then his foe was even more daring than he had imagined. 

“Deploy all remaining fighters and bombers to the source of the missiles.” He started giving out instructions to his bridge crew. “Instruct Captain Park and Captain Olsen to bring their frigates back to orbit to recharge their shields and repair all possible damages. Ready our interceptors, but do not launch them. Contact Captain Kincade and tell him to ready the reserve ships. They are to reinforce my position on my orders.”

The enemies wanted his flagship and cruisers to be vulnerable, and he would give them exactly what they wanted. Not only did he send out the rest of his starfighters and starbombers, he even instructed the frigates to retreat entirely instead of falling back and regrouping with his cruisers. Hopefully, this would cause the enemies to show whatever hand they had left. 

Of course, by the time they showed their trump card, they would find that his forces were much more prepared than anticipated. By then, it would be too late. 

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